Yanks, on brink, know they must ‘shock the world’
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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK — For the New York Yankees, the franchise with the richest history in baseball, to win their 28th World Series and their first since 2009, they will have to make history.
No team has ever overcome a 3-0 series deficit to win the World Series. Just one club — the Boston Red Sox against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series two decades ago — has completed the comeback in a postseason series at all. But that’s where the Yankees, whose offense has largely vanished on the grandest stage, find themselves after falling 4-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 at Yankee Stadium on Monday. The quest to become the first team to defy the odds in the World Series begins with Game 4 on Tuesday.
“We’re trying to get a game tomorrow,” Boone said. “OK? That’s where our focus lies. Hopefully we can go be this amazing story and shock the world.”
What has been shocking so far in this World Series has been New York’s offensive ineptitude. The Yankees, the AL leaders in runs scored during the regular season, have scored seven runs in the three games. They’re 4-for-20 with runners in scoring position. They’ve left 25 runners on base. They have just one fewer hit than the Dodgers but have totaled 31 strikeouts to the Dodgers’ 17.
“All it takes is one,” Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge said. “All it takes is one swing, one at-bat, one play, and everything changes. That’s the mindset you got to have.”
At the center of the struggles, though far from the only source, is Judge. The superstar center fielder didn’t appear to be of this planet for most of the summer. He is expected to win the AL MVP unanimously. He looked better at the plate in Game 3 than in Game 2, but he still went hitless with a strikeout and a walk, running his tally to 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts and a walk in the World Series and 6-for-43 (.140) with a .580 OPS and 20 strikeouts in 12 postseason games.
“Yeah, definitely,” Judge said when asked if he thought he was letting his team down. “You want to be getting the hits. You want to be going out there doing your job. But I’m not doing my job right now. So I got to pick it up.”
The lack of offense combined with early holes have buried the Yankees, who haven’t led since Nestor Cortes surrendered the walk-off grand slam to Freddie Freeman in Game 1. Their deficit in Game 3 began when Clarke Schmidt walked Shohei Ohtani, who was leading off for the Dodgers two days after dislocating his shoulder, on four pitches. Two batters later, Freeman smashed a cutter Schmidt yanked into the seats in right field for a two-run home run.
Schmidt allowed another run in the third inning before exiting with two outs in the frame. The right-hander threw 68 pitches to record eight outs.
“We’re playing kind of on the back foot a little bit,” Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo said. “We need to get in front of it and have some momentum on our side.”
Verdugo supplied the Yankees’ only runs with a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning as fans filtered out of the stadium. Giancarlo Stanton went 2-for-4 with a double. The rest of the team went 3-for-27 against Walker Buehler, who held New York to two hits over five pristine innings, and six Dodgers relievers.
The Yankees had runners reach base in each of the final four innings. They had rallies end with a questionable send (Stanton getting thrown out at home after doubling in the fourth inning) and a questionable strike three call (Gleyber Torres taking a pitch above the strike zone with two runners on base in the seventh inning). The performance prompted boos from the home crowd in the first World Series game at Yankee Stadium since Nov. 4, 2009.
If there’s one positive to take from Monday it’s that the Yankees saw six Dodgers relievers before their scheduled bullpen game Wednesday. The reps, they hope, will lead to production. History is not on their side. Each of the past nine teams to take a 3-0 lead in the World Series have completed a sweep, according to ESPN Research. The last team to force a Game 5 was the 1970 Cincinnati Reds against the Baltimore Orioles. A team has never forced a Game 6 after trailing 3-0.
“I don’t see us laying down tomorrow,” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said.
This World Series was as hyped as any in recent memory. The sport’s two most iconic franchises, representing each coast, adding another chapter to their World Series rivalry after a 43-year hiatus. Hall of Famers populating both rosters. Celebrities dotting the crowds. This series had everything.
But what began with an instant classic in Game 1 could suddenly end with a sweep Tuesday largely because the Yankees’ offense has put up too many zeroes. They’ll give the ball to rookie Luis Gil with their season on the line looking to supply him with early run support to ease his burden and begin mounting a historic comeback.
We know the odds are stacked against us,” Cortes said. “But this team is too resilient. I think we’ve shown enough fight in us to come back. If there’s a team out there that can do it, it’ll be us.”
The first 12-team College Football Playoff is down to the final two contenders: Notre Dame and Ohio State.
The seventh-seeded Fighting Irish and eighth-seeded Buckeyes will meet Jan. 20 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T. Whichever team wins will end a championship drought. Notre Dame aims for its first title since 1988. Ohio State’s lull isn’t nearly as long, as the Buckeyes won the first CFP championship a decade ago, but given how consistently elite they are, it seems like a while.
Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman and Ohio State’s Ryan Day are also aiming for their first championships as head coaches, and Freeman’s past will be in the spotlight. Freeman and the Irish lost to the Buckeyes and Day in each of the past two seasons. But after a masterful coaching job this season, Freeman now will face his alma mater — he was an All-Big Ten linebacker for Ohio State under coach Jim Tressel — with everything on the line. Day, meanwhile, can secure the loftiest goal for a team that fell short of earlier ones, but never stopped swinging.
Here’s your first look at the championship matchup and what to expect in the ATL. — Adam Rittenberg
When: Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN
What we learned in the semifinal: Notre Dame’s resilience and situational awareness/execution are undeniably its signature traits and could propel the team to a title. The Irish have overcome injuries all season and did so again against Penn State. They also erased two deficits and continued to hold the edge in the “middle eight” — the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half — while dominating third down on both sides of the ball. Notre Dame can rely on front men such as quarterback Riley Leonard, running back Jeremiyah Love and linebacker Jack Kiser, but also on backup QB Steve Angeli, wide receiver Jaden Greathouse and kicker Mitch Jeter. These Irish fight, and they’re very hard to knock out.
X factor: Greathouse entered Thursday with moderate numbers — 29 receptions, 359 yards, one touchdown — and had only three total catches for 14 yards in the first two CFP games. But he recorded career highs in both receptions (7) and receiving yards (105) and tied the score on a 54-yard touchdown with 4:38 to play. A Notre Dame offense looking for more from its wide receivers, especially downfield, could lean more on Greathouse, who exceeded his receptions total from the previous five games but might be finding his groove at the perfect time. He also came up huge in the clutch, recording all but six of his receiving yards in the second half.
How Notre Dame wins: The Irish won’t have the talent edge in Atlanta, partly because they’ve lost several stars to season-ending injuries, but they have the right traits to hang with any opponent. Notre Dame needs contributions in all three phases and must continue to sprinkle in downfield passes, an element offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock has pushed. And they finally did start seeing results against Penn State. The Irish likely can’t afford to lose the turnover margin, although they can help themselves by replicating their third-down brilliance — 11 of 17 conversions on offense, 3 of 11 conversions allowed on defense — from the Penn State win. — Rittenberg
What we learned in the semifinal: The Buckeyes have a defense with championship mettle, headlined by senior defensive end Jack Sawyer, who delivered one of the biggest defensive plays in Ohio State history. On fourth-and-goal with just over two minutes remaining, Sawyer sacked Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, forcing a fumble that he scooped up and raced 83 yards for a game-clinching touchdown, propelling Ohio State to the national title game. The Buckeyes weren’t perfect in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, and they struggled offensively for much of the night against a talented Texas defense. But Ohio State showed late why its defense is arguably the best in college football, too.
X factor: The play two snaps before the Sawyer scoop-and-score set the table. On second-and-goal from the Ohio State 1-yard line, unheralded senior safety Lathan Ransom dashed past incoming blockers and dropped Texas running back Quintrevion Wisner for a 7-yard loss. After an incomplete pass, the Longhorns were forced into desperation mode on fourth-and-goal down a touchdown with just over two minutes remaining. All-American safety Caleb Downs, who had an interception on Texas’ ensuing drive, rightfully gets all the headlines for the Ohio State secondary. But the Buckeyes have other veteran standouts such as Ransom throughout their defense.
How Ohio State wins: Texas took away Ohio State’s top offensive playmaker, true freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who had only one reception for 3 yards on three targets. As the first two playoff games underscored, the Buckeyes offense is at its best when Smith gets the ball early and often. Notre Dame is sure to emulate the Texas blueprint, positioning the defensive backs to challenge Smith. Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has to counter with a plan that finds ways to get the ball into Smith’s hands, no matter what the Fighting Irish do. — Jake Trotter
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Doug Greenberg, ESPN
Ohio State opened as a 9.5-point favorite over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T, per ESPN BET odds.
If that line holds, it would be tied for the second-largest spread in a CFP national championship game and the fourth largest in the CFP/BCS era. Georgia was -13.5 against TCU in the 2022 national championship, while Alabama showed -9.5 against none other than Ohio State to decide the 2020 campaign. Both favorites covered the spread in blowout fashion, combining for a cover margin of 63.
Notre Dame is 12-3 against the spread this season, tied with Arizona State (12-2) and Marshall (12-1) for the most covers in the nation. The Irish are 7-0 ATS against ranked teams and 2-0 ATS as underdogs, with both covers going down as outright victories, including their win over Penn State (-1.5) in the CFP national semifinal.
However, Notre Dame was also on the losing end of the largest outright upset of the college football season when it fell as a 28.5-point favorite to Northern Illinois.
Ohio State is 9-6 against the spread and has been a favorite in every game it has played this season; it has covered the favorite spread in every CFP game thus far, including in its semifinal win against Texas when it covered -6 with overwhelming public support.
The Buckeyes also have been an extremely popular pick in the futures market all season. At BetMGM as of Friday morning, OSU had garnered a leading 28.2% of money and 16.8% of bets to win the national title, checking in as the sportsbook’s greatest liability.
Ohio State opened at +700 to win it all this season and is now -350 with just one game to play.
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